NFL Talk: 3/20/2015

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By Tim Peterson

After the Ray Rice fiasco, the Baltimore Ravens have made it pretty clear they won’t be dealing with players with off the field issues. They proved that when they cut running back Bernard Pierce this week just hours after he was arrested for driving under the influence.

The Ravens brought back Justin Forsett and also have Lorenzo Taliaferro so Pierce was expendable.

But off the field issues don’t really matter when you can still run the ball and have youth on your side. The Jacksonville Jaguars signed Pierce the next day.

Great story this week about Bengals’ defensive tackle Devon Still’s daughter Leah receiving encouraging news in her fight with cancer. Doctors this week saidthey didn’t see any active disease in Leah’s body prompting Devon to post a picture of himself and his daughter on Instagram. Thursday morning Still signed a one-year deal to return to the Bengals.

The Dallas Cowboys may be happy with the signing of former Carolina defensive end Greg Hardy to a one-year contract but Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings wasn’t too pleased with the deal. Rawlings called it  “a punch in the gut” and that he wouldn’t be buying Hardy’s jersey  anytime soon. Last Spring Hardy was charged with domestic violence for assaulting and threatening to kill his ex girlfriend Nicole Holder.

Offensively, do the Cowboys really think they can replace DeMarco Murray with Darren McFadden? Yes it’s a quarterbacks league but that’s a giant drop off.

The Cleveland Browns have added help to their receiving corp with the signing of former Kansas City Chief Dwayne Bowe. They also inked former Dolphin Brian Hartline earlier this off season. Now all they need is a quarterback. Last year’s starter Brian Hoyer signed with Houston and backup Johnny Manziel is in rehab. Currently they have Manziel, Connor Shaw and Thad Lewis on the roster. Oh wait…there’s also Tyler Thigpen.

Speaking of Murray who do you like? Murray or LeSean McCoy? The consensus is McCoy but the Philadelphia Eagles could have done a lot worse. My question is what’s going on at quarterback?  Nick Foles is sent packing for Sam Bradford? Hasn’t Bradford spent more time in the hospital than a registered nurse? Chip Kelly can talk all he wants about the greatness of Bradford, but something else is coming. Marcus Mariota? Of course if Mariota isn’t in the cards, when Bradford gets hurt there will be a Trojan ready. Mark Sanchez and Matt Barkley are waiting in the wings.

The Buffalo Bills scored with McCoy and Percy Harvin, but Rex Ryan is a stretch. Ryan wore out his welcome in New York and is a retread in every sense of the word.

The Raiders… McFadden out, Trent Richardson in. Uh, okay. And Matt Schaub? Wow that didn’t last long. The Black and Silver drought continues.

Now Ndamukong Suh – that’s a good pick up. The Miami Dolphins were all in on a boy named Suh and it should be worth it. Suh is durable, consistent, and arguably the best DT in the league. Look out Tom Brady.

Looks like the New York Jets want to win now. They brought back Darrelle Revis in a move that not only strengthens the secondary but also hurts the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots. They also traded for WR Brandon Marshall and QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. New HC Todd Bowles is hoping Fitzpatrick will either excel enough to be the starter or at the very least push Geno Smith to up his game.

The Minnesota Vikings have announced that they won’t release Adrian Peterson. Peterson, who is under contract with the Vikes for next three years, has said he is uneasy about returning to Minnesota after the Vikings placed him on the commissioner’s exempt list. Will they trade him? Dallas would certainly be an interested party. We know he would be an upgrade from McFadden. Stay tuned…

The San Francisco 49ers were expecting Chris Borland to step in after Patrick Willis retired. There goes the best laid plans…While it is within Borland’s right to retire did he let down teammates and the coaching staff by not accepting the challenge? Just throwing it out there. Former New York Jet Damien Woody said exactly that on ESPN.

The Niners did improve offensively with the signing of Reggie Bush, but  they are close to losing free agent Michael Crabtree. Was Colin Kaepernick really being shopped?

Tim Tebow worked out for the Eagles but as of yet no contract has been discussed.

The Seattle Seahawks made big strides in re-signing Marshawn Lynch and trading for Jimmy Graham but they took a hit defensively when Byron Maxwell signed a six-year deal with the Eagles.

The St. Louis Rams not only acquired Foles they also signed DT Nick Fairley to a one-year deal. DT Kendall Langford, OT Jake Long and C Scott Wells are all gone in cost-cutting moves. Aaron Donald claimed Langford’s job and Long and Wells were injury plagued and eating too much cap space. The Rams should be ready to make a Super Bowl run when  they move to Los Angeles in 2016.

 

*In the next few weeks in NFL Talk we will be looking at how every team in the AFC and the NFC has fared in the off season. Who won? Who lost? Who stood pat? Also we will be dissecting the NFL Draft.

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